Sorry, Wasn't Listening
by Mr. Toffee
Summary: A young man is forced to live with the guilt of an unspeakable action until someone comes along to end his suffering. Told backwards chronologically starting with the fifth chapter. Riley: 19 and Jazmine: 21


_**For now this story will be told backwards. In other words this is the fifth chapter chronologically. I may write a sixth chapter after I finish the first; either that or a new story.**_

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Riley awoke about an hour later. The first thing he noticed about his surroundings once he opened his eyes was nothing. He was in absolute darkness. He knew that he would have to rely on senses other than sight to help him understand his current situation.

He immediately realized that he was sitting down in a chair with his hands tied behind his back. The rope was tied very tight and he could feel the material grind itself into his skin whenever he attempted to free himself. His legs were also tied to the chair so that now the only part of his body he could realistically move was his head. A lot of good that was to him with nothing to look at.

"Hey! Is anyone there?" Riley shouted.

Suddenly the lights switched on. Riley was temporary blinded for a second, but when he began to regain his sight he could see exactly where he was.

He was in his old house in the room he used to share with his brother. He knew this despite the fact that the room had been stripped of all the furniture. It looked like it hadn't been used in years, but he knew it had only been one year since…

That was when Riley noticed that he had a "roommate", so to speak. It was Jazmine. She was in a similar situation to him. She was also tied up with her hands behind her back and her legs attached to the chair. She was still asleep.

Not for long, though. Once the lights turned back on it took her about a minute to wake up.

"What the hell," Jazmine said drowsily. Noticing Riley, who was positioned directly in front of and facing her a few feet away, she shouted, "Riley? Where are we?"

"I don't know. I just woke up a couple minutes before you."

"Well, do you remember anything about what happened before you got here?" she asked.

"Naw. You?"

"No."

There was a silence while Riley (and presumably Jazmine) attempted to remember the manner in which they arrived in this predicament. He was sure he didn't just fall asleep. He must have been knocked out somehow. But who would want to abduct him? The only person he could possibly think of who would want to do something like this had been dead for a year.

"Remember anything yet?" Riley asked.

"Not yet" Jazmine stated, despair evident in her voice.

"Well, look. That doesn't really even matter right now. We just gotta concentrate on gettin' the fuck out of here. Do you think you can get your hands free?"

"I'll try." Jazmine attempted to maneuver out of her hand restraints. "Ahhh!" she screamed, "I'm sorry. It's just too painful."

"That's alright."

Once again Riley made an effort to free himself from his bonds, but the ropes just dug themselves into his skin even further.

"Ow! Yeah, you're right. But how are we gonna get out of here?"

Then an idea came to him.

"Maybe we could just, like, hop out of here tied to these chairs. I mean, I know it'll look pretty fuckin' stupid, but it might be our only option."

"Fine, whatever," Jazmine conceded, "As long as it gets us out of here."

They began to adjust themselves in preparation to escape their prison. However, as Riley was about make his first movement, he felt a little resistance, as if something was holding his chair back.

When Riley looked behind him to see what was up, he noticed a string tied to a metal ring attached to the wall behind him was connected to his chair. However, the string wasn't attached to his chair.

There was a bomb taped to the back of Riley's chair. The rope was tied to a pin that was sticking out of the bomb. Riley now realized that there was no way of hopping out of there without pulling out the pin and detonating the bomb. But Jazmine didn't.

'Click'. "What was that? What just happened?" Jazmine asked frantically.

Suddenly a timer lit up on the windowsill between the two prisoners with a time of 60 seconds on it.

"Shit!" Riley shouted.

"What? What's going on?" Jazmine asked even more frantically.

The timer began to count down.

"Godammit!" Riley screamed at the top of his lungs.

"What?" Jazmine cried, tears streaming down her face. "Please, Riley. Tell me what's going on!"

"There is a fucking bomb strapped to the back of your chair and you just activated it!" Riley stated rather harshly.

"A bomb? No, this can't be happening! I don't want to die!"

"Well, you have about 47 seconds to get used to the idea."

"Why is this happening?" Jazmine asked, "Are we being punished for something? Riley, have you ever done anything really awful that someone might want revenge for?"

"I've done a lot of bad things in my life. In fact this is probably what I deserve. No, this is definitely what I deserve. I'm just sorry you had to be here to suffer with me."

"Is there anything else you're sorry about?" Jazmine inquired, "Anything you want to get off your chest in the last 35 seconds of your life."

"Too many things to count."

"But is there any specific act you did that was so horrible that you are desperate for forgiveness?"

Jazmine's tone had changed. Her voice was no longer steeped in fear, but instead took on a more determined quality.

"What the fuck are you talking about Jazmine?"

"Please try to remember, Riley. This is extremely important."

"Jazmine, do you know what's going on here?" Riley asked suspiciously, anger growing in his voice.

"Please, Riley. You only have 20 seconds"

"What the fuck is wrong with you Jazmine? Who's doing this to us? Did they tell you to say that shit?"

"15 seconds."

"Who's doing this to us? Come out here you asshole and face me!"

"Riley! What act do you seek forgiveness for?"

However, Riley wasn't listening to Jazmine.

"What kind of sick fuckin' game is this? What, did I screw you over at some point and now you want me to beg for forgiveness while you watch me die? Well, that ain't gonna happen because 1. I don't even remember you and 2. I don't give a shit!"

The timer reached zero and Riley braced himself for the explosion. However, there was none. After a few seconds, Riley opened his eyes and looked around. Jazmine no longer had an anxious look on her face. It had now been replaced by a somewhat disappointed look.

"Hey, we're alive!" Riley shouted, overcome with relief.

However, Jazmine didn't seem relieved at all. Instead, she began struggling with her hand restraints again, but this time she was able to free herself. The reason behind her sudden freedom was a knife she held in her hands. It seemed she had had it grasped between her hands throughout this entire ordeal. She then began to cut the ropes tying her legs to the chair. Jazmine was now free. She stood up.

"Jazmine, what the fuck is this…"

It was then that Riley remembered how he was knocked out. He had been at the cemetery, a place he found himself visiting more and more frequently as the months went by. He had bent over to place flowers on the grave and as he stood back up he remembered being hit hard on the head with a blunt object. And as Riley fell to the ground he remembered seeing a figure dressed in black with a hood pulled over their head. However, Riley was also able to make out a puff of golden hair sticking out of the hood.

Jazmine walked over to Riley's chair and put her hand on the back of it.

"You fail" she said coldly.

With that Jazmine pushed over Riley's chair, in the process pulling out the pin of his bomb. The timer lit up on the windowsill once again.

Jazmine now walked over to the bedroom door, opened it, and before she stepped out uttered the words, "And yours isn't fake."

"NOOOOOOO!" Riley shouted. He now began to writhe around very violently on the ground desperately trying to release himself from his bonds. "PLEASE COME BACK!"

However, Jazmine wasn't listening.

She shut the door, walked downstairs, stepped outside, and watched the explosion 45 seconds later from the street.

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_**Don't worry, you're supposed to be confused. Remember, this is the fifth chapter chronologically.**_


End file.
